Sorghum as a Novel Crop for Central Europe: Using a Broad Diversity Set to Dissect Temperate-Adaptation

Assessing genetic, racial, and geographic diversity among Ethiopian sorghum landraces and implications for heterotic potential for hybrid sorghum breeding

The wealth of sorghum genetic resources in Africa has not been fully exploited for cultivar development in the continent. Hybrid cultivars developed from locally evolved germplasm are more likely to possess a well-integrated assembly of genes for local adaptation, productivity, quality, as well as for defensive traits and broader stability. A subset of 560 sorghum accessions of known fertility reaction representing the major botanical races and agro-ecologies of Ethiopia were characterized for genetic, agronomic and utilization parameters to lay a foundation for cultivar improvement and parental selection for hybrid breeding. Accessions were genotyped using a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) generating 73,643 SNPs for genetic analysis. Significant genetic variability was observed among accessions with Admixture and Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components where 67% of the accessions fell into K=10 clusters with membership coefficient set to > 0.6. The pattern of aggregation of the accessions partially overlapped with racial category and agro-ecological adaptation. Majority of the non-restorer (B-line) accessions primarily of the bicolor race from the wet highland ecology clustered together away from two clusters of fertility restorer (R-line) accessions. Small members of the B accessions were grouped with the R clusters and in vice-versa while significant numbers of both B and R accessions were spread between the major clusters. Such pattern of diversity along with the complementary agronomic data based information indicate the potential for heterosis providing the foundation for initiating hybrid breeding program based on locally adapted germplasm.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-024-01483-8.

Promoting the elemental profile of sorghum grain: Driving factors affecting nutritional properties under nitrogen fertilizer conditions

Monitoring nitrogen utilization is crucial in agricultural practices, emphasizing the interrelationship between soil health, nutrient management, and human health. The study was conducted to evaluate the impact of N fertilizer on the nutritional characteristics of diverse S. bicolor varieties, namely Alföldi 1, ES Föehn (Lidea Seeds) with a red pericarp, ES Albanus, Albita, and Farmsugro 180 (all white varieties), the study was conducted in sorghum-producing areas where the crop is non-native. Specifically, the study investigated two soil types: loam clay and sandy soil. Furthermore, the respective varieties were grown under N (27% N CAN) fertilizer conditions, involving 60 kg/ha-1 and 120 kg/ha-1 of the treatment rates applied at each experiment site. We measured the specific element concentration in each sample using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technology. Certainly, the results demonstrated that the different S. bicolor varieties had unique nutritional characteristics attributed to several factors such as soil type, variety, and treatment, which showed a significance value of (P < 0.05). The findings demonstrated that the treatments had distinct impacts as stimulators and inhibitors for certain elements. Specifically, the application of 120 kg/ha-1 negatively affected the levels of particular elements, such as Ca mg/kg-1, in loam clay and sandy soil. The statistical analysis of trace microelement variance did not show a significance value (P > 0.05) when considering the year factor, which supported the data analysis's reliability and accuracy. In summary, to enhance the nutritional value of sorghum grain and supply nutrient-rich food choices for individuals, consider factors such as fertilizer response, nutrient uptake by grain, element mineral accumulation, and advisory variety. Additional research could enhance the nutritional properties of sorghum to provide the required dietary stuff, such as grain processing, which can render sorghum a proper addition to a healthy and balanced human diet.

Genetic and genomic diversity in the sorghum gene bank collection of Uganda

BACKGROUND

The Plant Genetic Resources Centre at the Uganda National Gene Bank houses has over 3000 genetically diverse landraces and wild relatives of Sorghum bicolor accessions. This genetic diversity resource is untapped, under-utilized, and has not been systematically incorporated into sorghum breeding programs. In this study, we characterized the germplasm collection using whole-genome SNP markers (DArTseq). Discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) was implemented to study the racial ancestry of the accessions in comparison to a global sorghum diversity set and characterize the sub-groups present in the Ugandan (UG) germplasm.

RESULTS

Population structure and phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of five subgroups among the Ugandan accessions. The samples from the highlands of the southwestern region were genetically distinct as compared to the rest of the population. This subset was predominated by the caudatum race and unique in comparison to the other sub-populations. In this study, we detected QTL for juvenile cold tolerance by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) resulting in the identification of 4 markers associated (-log10p > 3) to survival under cold stress under both field and climate chamber conditions, located on 3 chromosomes (02, 06, 09). To our best knowledge, the QTL on Sb09 with the strongest association was discovered for the first time.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates how genebank genomics can potentially facilitate effective and efficient usage of valuable, untapped germplasm collections for agronomic trait evaluation and subsequent allele mining. In face of adverse climate change, identification of genomic regions potentially involved in the adaptation of Ugandan sorghum accessions to cooler climatic conditions would be of interest for the expansion of sorghum production into temperate latitudes.

Identifying the primary meteorological factors affecting the growth and development of Tartary buckwheat and a comprehensive landrace evaluation using a multi-environment phenotypic investigation

BACKGROUND

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is a traditional edible and medicinal crop and has been praised as one of the green foods for humans in the 21st century. However, its production and promotion are restricted by the low yields of current varieties. The interaction of genotype and environment could lead to inconsistent phenotypic performance of genotypes across different environments. Climate change has intensified these effects and poses a substantial threat to crop production.

RESULTS

In the present study, the effects of meteorological factors on the phenotypic traits of 200 Tartary buckwheat landraces across four macro-environments were investigated. Overall, the phenotypic performance of these Tartary buckwheat landraces was markedly varied across the different environments. Also, the average daily temperature and precipitation had relatively higher impacts on phenotypic performance. The results also revealed the negative impacts of relative humidity on the yield-related traits. Twenty-five Tartary buckwheat landraces were ultimately identified as having good overall phenotypic performance and high yield stability.

CONCLUSION

Understanding the impacts of meteorological factors on the phenotypic performance of crops can guide appropriate measures and facilitate germplasm selection for yield enhancement in the context of climate change. The landraces selected comprehensively in this study could be used as parents or intermediate materials for breeding high-quality Tartary buckwheat varieties in the future. The methods used could also be extended to other crops for breeding and germplasm innovation. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Crop modeling defines opportunities and challenges for drought escape, water capture, and yield increase using chilling-tolerant sorghum

Many crop species, particularly those of tropical origin, are chilling sensitive, so improved chilling tolerance can enhance production of these crops in temperate regions. For the cereal crop sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), early planting and chilling tolerance have been investigated for >50 years, but the potential value or tradeoffs of this genotype × management change have not been formally evaluated with modeling. To assess the potential of early planted chilling-tolerant grain sorghum in the central US sorghum belt, we conducted CERES-Sorghum simulations and characterized scenarios under which this change would be expected to enhance (or diminish) drought escape, water capture, and yield. We conducted crop growth modeling for full- and short-season hybrids under rainfed systems that were simulated to be planted in very early (April), early (May 15), and normal (June 15) planting dates over 1986-2015 in four locations in Kansas representative of the central US sorghum belt. Simulations indicated that very early planting will generally lead to lower initial soil moisture, longer growing periods, and higher evapotranspiration. Very early planting is expected to extend the growing period by 20% for short- or full-season hybrids, reduce evaporation during fallow periods, and increase plant transpiration in the two-thirds of years with the highest precipitation (mean > 428 mm), leading to 11% and 7% increase grain yield for short- and full-season hybrids, respectively. Thus, in this major sorghum growing region, very early and early planting could reduce risks of terminal droughts, extend seasons, and increase rotation options, suggesting that further development of chilling-tolerant hybrids is warranted.